The exceptional scientific creativity of the twentieth century revolutionised the way we think and the way we live. It transformed our conception of time, space, causality, demonstration, numbers and geometry.
Gathered here, in a convenient format, are the basic findings of mathematicians and physicists of the past century. Each finding or concept is presented on a separate page and broken down into clear paragraphs explaining the basic notion behind it and the reasoning that led to it.
The following are presented in an accessible manner: Hilbert’s axioms, Cantor’s set theory, Gödel’s theorems, probability theory, restricted relativity and Einstein’s general relativity, quantum mechanics and its paradoxes, Mandelbrot’s fractals and chaos theory.
This compact, concise volume offers an overview of the major findings in physics and mathematics of the last century. It can be used as a handy reference work, since each notion is presented separately and independently, without referring to the previous pages.
The author’s clear explanations will prove to be indispensable for readers who wish to keep abreast of current scientific research and technology — or who simply want to follow their children’s schoolwork.

Alexandre Moatti, a graduate of Ecole Polytechnique, is a senior mining engineer.